The company demonstrated strong cash conversion efficiency with an operating cash flow to net income ratio of 1.71 and a free cash flow margin of 17.3% in 2026Q1.
| Metric | TTM | Dec'25 | Dec'24 | Dec'23 | Dec'22 | Dec'21 | Dec'20 | Dec'19 | Dec'18 | Dec'17 | Dec'16 | Dec'15 | Dec'14 | Dec'13 | Dec'12 | Dec'11 | Dec'10 | Dec'09 | Dec'08 | Dec'07 | Dec'06 | Dec'05 | Dec'04 | Dec'03 | Dec'02 | Dec'01 | Dec'00 | Dec'99 | Dec'98 | Dec'97 | Dec'96 |
|---|
| Cash from Operations | 3.04B | 2.76B | 3.05B | 3.03B | 3.15B | 3.21B | 2.84B | 1.71B | 1.73B | 1.4B | 1.51B | 1.35B | 1.19B | 908.03M | 1.25B | 1.12B | 703.69M | 285.2M | 298.54M | 299.42M | 185.93M | 213.32M | 226.54M | 168.84M | 104.53M | 50.03M | 5.83M | 29.7M | -19.1M | 17.9M | 4.9M |
| Operating CF Margin % | - | 15.53% | 18.25% | 19.19% | 21.85% | 24.07% | 24.44% | 16.83% | 18.12% | 15.64% | 17.58% | 16.89% | 16.5% | 13.66% | 20.24% | 19.33% | 13.04% | 5.88% | 8.35% | 11.87% | 8.14% | 10.43% | 13.16% | 11.17% | 7.96% | 4.58% | 0.66% | 3.94% | -3.1% | 5.66% | 1.89% |
| Operating CF Growth % | -2.15% | -9.43% | 0.51% | -3.63% | -1.84% | 13.07% | 66.03% | -1.1% | 23.07% | -7.08% | 12.28% | 13.03% | 31.1% | -27.45% | 11.85% | 59.02% | 146.73% | -4.47% | -0.29% | 61.04% | -12.84% | -5.83% | 34.18% | 61.51% | 108.94% | 757.84% | -80.36% | 255.5% | -206.7% | 265.31% | 444.44% |
| Net Income | 2.6B | 2.54B | 2.39B | 2.35B | 2.17B | 2.16B | 1.75B | 1.39B | 1.32B | 1.13B | 1.04B | 931.22M | 778.18M | 670.29M | 585.75M | 507.67M | 419.37M | 307.5M | 186.23M | 193.99M | 178.09M | 164.27M | 139.57M | 100.09M | 81.99M | 66.35M | 51.71M | 45.6M | 30.8M | 23.1M | 19M |
| Depreciation & Amortization | 524.37M | 511.23M | 461.89M | 409.06M | 357.93M | 328.22M | 314.63M | 270.88M | 258.94M | 233.84M | 217.87M | 210.26M | 194.21M | 183.18M | 177.11M | 165.88M | 161.44M | 148.18M | 113M | 78.94M | 64.94M | 57.23M | 54.33M | 42.37M | 36.91M | 30.54M | 24.81M | 17.9M | 12.2M | 8.3M | 6.1M |
| Stock-Based Compensation | 35.49M | 35.12M | 28.93M | 27.51M | 26.46M | 24.66M | 22.75M | 21.92M | 20.18M | 19.4M | 18.86M | 21.9M | 23.09M | 21.72M | 22.03M | 20.58M | 16.97M | 21.41M | 13.55M | 0 | 0 | 7.84M | 5.07M | 4.03M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Deferred Taxes | -13.09M | -37.54M | -50.24M | 48.23M | 69.58M | 20.38M | 12.38M | 21.16M | 20.16M | -4.59M | 10.39M | -22.65M | 1.49M | 1.92M | 8.16M | 54.12M | 99.26M | 50.38M | 11.03M | -6.34M | -1.02M | -671K | 7.64M | 13.8M | 5.67M | 6.37M | 3.25M | 5.5M | 7.6M | -1M | 1.5M |
| Other Non-Cash Items | 17.28M | 18.45M | 12.97M | 7.07M | 5.59M | 6.52M | 9.27M | 11.45M | 13.37M | 14.66M | 8.88M | 8.95M | -41.47M | -21.35M | -29.38M | 8.73M | -15.48M | 6.28M | 11.96M | 17.78M | 12.84M | 12.63M | -14.38M | 7.68M | 7.41M | 11.58M | 5.08M | 7.2M | 2.5M | 2.2M | 1.4M |
| Working Capital Changes | -128.16M | -303.46M | 209.34M | 195.63M | 516.04M | 662.85M | 725.27M | -7.96M | 90.43M | 6.57M | 217.02M | 195.82M | 234.93M | 52.27M | 487.89M | 362.01M | 22.12M | -248.55M | -37.23M | 15.04M | -68.92M | -27.97M | 34.32M | 870K | -27.44M | -64.82M | -79.01M | -46.5M | -72.2M | -14.7M | -23.1M |
| Change in Receivables | -43.46M | -35.51M | 30.5M | -35.54M | -75.86M | -47.43M | -20.52M | -15.58M | 18.14M | -27.74M | -38.55M | -23.86M | -19.27M | -16.94M | 4.4M | -21.22M | -21.75M | -9.71M | -7.44M | -8.55M | -9.43M | -8.97M | -11.64M | -9.11M | -10.01M | -11.34M | -10.64M | -1.4M | -5.8M | -1.8M | -2.4M |
| Change in Inventory | -608.52M | -604.54M | -403.89M | -288.32M | -669.05M | -32.63M | -198.86M | -239.91M | -163.37M | -231.8M | -119.27M | -76.23M | -179.74M | -96.88M | -276.9M | 37.74M | -110.27M | -339.74M | -142.33M | -68.82M | -91.43M | -62.16M | -66.38M | -19.65M | -56.3M | -35.12M | -78.14M | -47.9M | -53.3M | -27.9M | -24.9M |
| Change in Payables | 701.99M | 576.41M | 421.36M | 207.06M | 1.18B | 510.91M | 580.61M | 213.42M | 177.68M | 253.26M | 322.43M | 191.06M | 360.65M | 127.18M | 645.71M | 383.63M | 82.57M | 79.82M | 50.41M | 0 | 0 | 43.16M | 94.59M | 29.76M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cash from Investing | -1.11B | -1.15B | -1.17B | -995.94M | -739.99M | -615.62M | -614.89M | -796.75M | -534.3M | -464.22M | -529.1M | -407.19M | -423.4M | -388.75M | -317.41M | -319.65M | -351.28M | -410.66M | -367.6M | -300.32M | -225.2M | -269.07M | -171.99M | -130.56M | -105.39M | -77.85M | -40.52M | -77.8M | -100.8M | -37.7M | -11.2M |
| Capital Expenditures | -1.13B | -1.17B | -1.02B | -1.01B | -563.34M | -442.85M | -465.58M | -628.06M | -504.27M | -465.94M | -476.34M | -414.02M | -429.99M | -395.88M | -300.72M | -328.32M | -365.42M | -414.78M | -341.68M | -282.65M | -228.87M | -205.16M | -176.27M | -136.5M | -102.26M | -68.52M | -81.99M | -86M | -107M | -37.2M | -34.5M |
| CapEx % of Revenue | 6.19% | 6.57% | 6.13% | 6.36% | 3.91% | 3.32% | 4.01% | 6.19% | 5.29% | 5.19% | 5.54% | 5.2% | 5.96% | 5.95% | 4.86% | 5.67% | 6.77% | 8.56% | 9.55% | 11.21% | 10.02% | 10.03% | 10.24% | 9.03% | 7.79% | 6.27% | 9.21% | 11.4% | 17.36% | 11.76% | 13.31% |
| Acquisitions | -18.09M | -14.39M | 16.35M | 17.69M | 14.8M | 9.49M | 15.77M | 7.12M | 4.78M | 4.46M | 5.12M | 2.76M | 2.88M | 1.73M | 3.04M | 2.71M | 2.12M | 4.29M | -32.52M | 2.33M | 875K | -61.21M | 1.65M | 0 | 0 | -20.54M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 800K |
| Investments | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other Investing | 32.39M | 30.84M | -161.26M | -3.21M | -3.16M | -1.93M | -975K | -142.03M | -34.82M | -2.75M | -57.87M | 4.07M | 3.71M | 5.4M | -19.73M | 5.95M | 12.02M | -170K | 6.6M | 1.73M | 2.79M | -2.7M | 2.63M | 5.94M | -3.13M | 11.21M | 41.47M | 8.2M | 5.7M | -500K | 100K |
| Cash from Financing | -1.87B | -1.55B | -2.03B | -1.87B | -2.66B | -2.69B | -1.8B | -902.81M | -1.21B | -1.04B | -951.32M | -1.07B | -747.79M | -536.08M | -1.05B | -467.51M | -349.62M | 121.09M | 52.8M | 18.55M | 37.79M | 18.11M | -6.62M | -46.52M | 15.14M | 33.65M | 34.1M | 56.1M | 119.3M | 20.9M | 4.7M |
| Debt Issued (Net) | 536.87M | 484.79M | -52.77M | 1.19B | 540.72M | -300M | 228.59M | 469.96M | 435.74M | 1.09B | 495.04M | -25K | -72K | 296.79M | 295.57M | 428.58M | -431.33M | 50.95M | 36.02M | -10.01M | 8.76M | -602K | -20.99M | -70.68M | 7.88M | 16.55M | 28.74M | -76.5M | 116.2M | 19.4M | 2.8M |
| Equity Issued (Net) | -2.39B | -2.02B | -1.95B | -3.06B | -3.2B | -2.39B | -2.02B | -1.37B | -1.64B | -2.13B | -1.45B | -1.07B | -796.86M | -863.68M | -1.38B | -919.07M | 63.12M | 59.51M | 21.78M | 21.73M | 20.49M | 18.71M | 14.37M | 24.16M | 7.26M | 17.1M | 5.35M | 132.6M | 3.1M | 1.5M | 1.9M |
| Dividends Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Share Repurchases | -2.46B | -2.1B | -2.08B | -3.15B | -3.28B | -2.48B | -2.09B | -1.43B | -1.71B | -2.17B | -1.51B | -1.14B | -866.48M | -933.03M | -1.45B | -976.63M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other Financing | -17.28M | -17.45M | -29.4M | -354K | -350K | -3.73M | -253K | -191K | -2.16M | -156K | -4.68M | -934K | 49.15M | 30.81M | 38.63M | 22.98M | 18.59M | 10.63M | -4.99M | 6.83M | 8.54M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Net Change in Cash | 61.38M | 63.55M | -148.89M | 170.55M | -253.53M | -103.53M | 425.23M | 9.09M | -15.03M | -100.25M | 30.3M | -134.26M | 19.24M | -16.81M | -113.42M | 331.83M | 2.79M | -4.37M | -16.25M | 17.65M | -1.48M | -37.64M | 47.93M | -8.24M | 14.29M | 5.84M | -587K | 8.1M | -600K | 1.1M | -1.6M |
| Free Cash Flow | 1.91B | 1.59B | 2.03B | 2.03B | 2.58B | 2.76B | 2.37B | 1.08B | 1.22B | 937.75M | 1.03B | 931.47M | 760.44M | 512.14M | 950.84M | 790.67M | 338.27M | -129.58M | -43.14M | 16.76M | -42.94M | 8.16M | 53.05M | 32.34M | 2.28M | -18.49M | -76.16M | -56.3M | -126.1M | -19.3M | -29.6M |
| FCF Margin % | 10.51% | 8.96% | 12.13% | 12.82% | 17.94% | 20.74% | 20.43% | 10.64% | 12.83% | 10.45% | 12.04% | 11.69% | 10.54% | 7.7% | 15.38% | 13.66% | 6.27% | -2.67% | -1.21% | 0.66% | -1.88% | 0.4% | 3.08% | 2.14% | 0.17% | -1.69% | -8.55% | -7.47% | -20.46% | -6.1% | -11.42% |
| FCF Growth % | -6.17% | -21.37% | -0.08% | -21.55% | -6.49% | 16.59% | 119.45% | -11.68% | 30.45% | -9.34% | 11.05% | 22.49% | 48.48% | -46.14% | 20.26% | 133.74% | 361.05% | -200.39% | -357.33% | 139.04% | -626.07% | -84.61% | 64.04% | 1320.87% | 112.31% | 75.72% | -35.27% | 55.35% | -553.37% | 34.8% | -6.86% |
| FCF per Share | 2.27 | 1.86 | 2.42 | 2.33 | 2.79 | 2.78 | 2.23 | 0.97 | 1.04 | 0.73 | 0.75 | 0.64 | 0.50 | 0.32 | 0.54 | 0.40 | 0.17 | -0.07 | -0.02 | 0.01 | -0.03 | 0.01 | 0.03 | 0.02 | 0.00 | -0.01 | -0.05 | -0.04 | -0.10 | -0.02 | -0.02 |
| FCF Conversion (FCF/Net Income) | 0.73x | 1.09x | 1.28x | 1.29x | 1.45x | 1.48x | 1.62x | 1.23x | 1.30x | 1.24x | 1.46x | 1.44x | 1.53x | 1.35x | 2.14x | 2.20x | 1.68x | 0.93x | 1.60x | 1.54x | 1.04x | 1.30x | 1.62x | 1.69x | 1.27x | 0.75x | 0.11x | 0.65x | -0.62x | 0.77x | 0.26x |
| Interest Paid | -39.42M | 0 | 209.09M | 189.61M | 155.85M | 144.29M | 159.72M | 134.63M | 117.94M | 77.77M | 63.65M | 55.06M | 51.2M | 46.76M | 34.66M | 13.35M | 31.21M | 36.88M | 17.82M | - | - | 5.06M | 4.96M | 6.86M | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Taxes Paid | -16.9M | 0 | 640.43M | 315.06M | 415.17M | 450.94M | 305.09M | 394.93M | 311.38M | 496.73M | 569.68M | 485.82M | 416.46M | 362.6M | 274.64M | 252.77M | 154.15M | 130.72M | 74.23M | - | - | 98.44M | 55.14M | 43.01M | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Long-term EV adoption headwinds
According to the latest quarterly data, ORLY's operating cash flow to net income ratio reached 1.71 in 2026Q1, indicating that the company consistently generates cash in excess of reported accounting profits, a hallmark of high-quality earnings driven by efficient inventory turnover and strong working capital management.
The consistent ability to convert net income into operating cash flow at a ratio exceeding 1.0 suggests that the company's earnings are not reliant on aggressive accruals. Investors should monitor this relationship, as it confirms that the firm's profitability is backed by tangible cash inflows rather than non-cash accounting adjustments.
As reported in financial statements, ORLY achieved a free cash flow margin of 17.3% in 2026Q1, representing a significant improvement from the 6.9% margin observed in 2023Q4 and highlighting the company's ability to scale cash generation as revenue growth accelerates across its hub-and-spoke network.
The upward trajectory in free cash flow margins suggests that the company is successfully leveraging its existing distribution infrastructure to support higher sales volumes without requiring proportional increases in capital expenditure. This trend appears to provide the necessary liquidity to sustain the firm's aggressive capital allocation strategy.
Based on the provided figures, ORLY's capital expenditure as a percentage of revenue was 5.4% in 2026Q1, which remains well within the historical range of 5% to 7%, suggesting that the company is effectively balancing maintenance requirements with the expansion of its professional delivery infrastructure.
The stability of the CapEx-to-revenue ratio indicates that management is not over-investing in physical assets, which supports the firm's high return on invested capital. This disciplined approach to capital intensity appears to be a key driver of the company's ability to generate consistent free cash flow.
Analysis of the reported figures reveals that ORLY utilized $922.9 million for share repurchases in 2026Q1, a substantial increase from previous periods that underscores management's commitment to returning capital to shareholders while maintaining a robust balance sheet through disciplined organic growth and operational efficiency.
The heavy reliance on share repurchases as the primary vehicle for capital deployment suggests that management views its own stock as the most attractive investment opportunity. While this strategy has historically amplified EPS growth, investors should monitor whether this pace of buybacks remains sustainable if the cost of debt capital increases.
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying ORLY stock.
O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. (ORLY) generated $2.76B in net cash from operating activities in 2025. This reflects the cash generated directly from core business operations.
O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. (ORLY) generated $1.59B in free cash flow in 2025. Free cash flow is the cash left over after capital expenditures, which can be used to pay dividends, repurchase shares, or pay down debt.
O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. (ORLY) spent $1.17B on capital expenditures in 2025. CapEx represents the cash invested in physical assets like property, plant, and equipment to maintain or grow the business.
In 2025, O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. (ORLY) spent $2.10B on share repurchases. This shows the company's commitment to returning capital to its equity investors.